New World Order
by JinnySkeans
Summary: Because they've always been different and very much the same, and this is how they find their way back to each other. SasuSaku
1. Chapter 1

On any given day after the war, Haruno Sakura was likely to be found in the hospital. Where exactly in the hospital to locate her was always a toss-up. Today, at 2:45, it happened to be in the laboratory; more specifically, Tsunade's personal laboratory, where she'd made a point of stopping in at least once a day for the past four weeks. She would always ask the same innocuous question of her former master, and Tsunade would always give the same answer.

"Need any help with anything?"

"No, you impertinent brat. Leave me to my work in peace."

Sakura sighed and smiled, pretending not to pay as much attention to what Tsunade was working on as she actually was. Hungry green eyes absorbed the almost magical mix of medicine and chakra as the Fifth Hokage crafted something the likes of which had never been done before; what she was doing couldn't be found in any of her medical scrolls or textbooks. It was breaking ground. A new frontier. Sakura was the first to witness such an impressive marriage of healing, regenerative chakra and…

"Don't you have patients to attend to?" Tsunade demanded. "What with me locked down here like some hamster on a wheel making arms for those two _ingrates_…" Sakura understood this to mean Naruto and Sasuke-kun, "and Shizune cleaning up after that other _ingrate…_" who she knew to be Kakashi-sensei, "I'm sure you've got your hands full running the hospital."

"Not exactly," Sakura said, peering over Tsunade's shoulder and studying Tsunade's electric chakra pattern. "We sent home Tamaki-san this morning…"

"Already? She's lucky, foolish girl. Getting in the way of a cat-and-dog fight."

"…and Shizune-sempai finally managed to get Kakashi-sensei in for his physical. I'll spare you the details on what she had to bribe him with to do so."

Tsunade chuckled, then snapped, "Okay then enjoy your afternoon off, yeah? _Some_ of us have jobs to do."

"You know if you really hate this assignment so much, I'd be happy to help," Sakura sang, but she already knew better. Tsunade was much like Sakura herself: unable to sit still for too long, determined to be helpful, and unable to pass up a challenge. The task of crafting prosthetic arms from Hashirama's cells had fallen to her (AKA she'd bossily taken charge of it) and she wasn't about to relinquish such an exquisite challenge so easily.

"Actually, you know what, I could use your help with something," said Tsunade, pausing in her work to turn and face her former apprentice. "Don't look so shocked, you asked me if I needed anything."

"Yeah but I didn't expect you to say yes!" Sakura exclaimed eagerly. "Is it the matter of conjoining cellular tissue between the prosthesis and the original limb while enabling chakra flow? Because I had some ideas about that, actually, and…"

Tsunade smirked. "Actually, I was going to say I could use a bottle of sake and a little something to nibble on from the barbecue place."

"Sounds like something an apprentice would do for her master," Sakura said dryly, thoroughly annoyed at the obvious trap she'd fallen into.

"It does indeed."

"Then I guess it's a shame that I'm not your apprentice anymore. See you tomorrow, Shishou."

With that item ticked off her to-do list (not that she'd expected any success, but there was no harm in trying), she made her way to Hokage Tower after calling to one of the nurses that she was taking a late lunch. The nurse smiled brightly and nodded, promising to have her patients covered, but it was a formality. If she was being perfectly honest with herself, Sakura knew she wasn't needed in the hospital as often as she was prepared to be.

That was bittersweet. Few patients was always a good thing. It meant people were healthy and whole and well, and in peacetime, it was to be expected. It was the eventuality wars were fought for to begin with.

But Sakura had been raised in a world where if she didn't show up, people died. She not only was capable of handling herself in the hospital, she thrived on it. She had been trained by the best to be the best, and now she was.

So good, in fact, that she was running out of things to do lately.

She showed up at the hospital and stayed for hours longer than necessary, simply out of habit.

She sighed, then brightened as she drew closer to Hokage Tower. More free time on her hands meant more time to devote to other equally important causes, like a notion Tsunade had had long ago that Sakura was determined to see through, which meant a visit to the Sixth Hokage. She doubted that he would be difficult to convince – being his favorite student had its perks, and he always listened to her when she had something important to say.

But that, of course, meant another project that was bound to be easy to complete. Between a lull in activity at the hospital, a definite decrease in the missions she was sent on since the war had ended, her completed apprenticeship with Tsunade-shishou and her recent promotion to jonin, Sakura began to worry that she was, quite simply, running out of things to do here in Konoha.

And if there was one thing that she resented, it was the idea of just standing _still._

* * *

_There's something that's been bothering me lately._

He hadn't quite adjusted to life without his left arm yet.

Being a shinobi meant a life of constant adjustments. Not that he was fully qualified to decide what being a shinobi meant exactly, not when he was still trying to figure that out for himself.

It had been three weeks since he'd set foot out of Konoha on a quest for atonement, because he wouldn't be Uchiha Sasuke if he wasn't working towards something. This time, though, he had a strong feeling that what he was doing was the right thing. For _once._

He could have waited a little bit longer before leaving – the Fifth Hokage was working on a prosthetic arm for him, not that he deserved it – but something more pressing than having both arms in working order was weighing on his heart. Something more urgent propelled him out of the village he'd finally returned to.

_There's something that's been bothering me lately._

His teammates had been understanding, something that confounded Sasuke the more he thought about it. It was his fault that they had fallen apart to begin with, wasn't it? His leaving was the catalyst that led to _so much shit_, and still they stuck by him. While he was gone, they tried to get him back; they defended him from other people, stood up for him when there was nothing redeemable about him, fought for him, laid down their lives for him. Naruto had had his right arm blown off in their fight, which could have ended his career as a shinobi.

But while it confused him, their unwavering loyalty and understanding, it didn't surprise him. Kakashi had given a light-hearted sermon on his way out, making him promise to stay out of trouble. Sakura had offered to accompany him. The back of his neck heated up at the memory – when had she gotten so beautiful?

And Naruto…Naruto had smirked at him and slipped him his old forehead protector. Sasuke didn't wear it, but he kept it with him all the same. Sometimes, when he paused to make camp for the night on his aimless journey, he would take it out of his bag and study it in the firelight. The glow of the embers turned the battered silver to molten gold, and sometimes if he held it at just the right angle, he couldn't make out the grating slash through the leaf insignia. Like it was never there to begin with.

An adjustment.

But for all of the _adjusting_ Sasuke had had to do in his young life, living life with one arm was difficult at best, damn near impossible at worst. Without both hands, he couldn't make hand seals. His right arm was nowhere near as proficient with his sword as his left arm had been. He was vulnerable.

More than that, he was alone.

And like always, his solitude had been self-imposed. A punishment the likes of which he'd escaped thanks to Kakashi and Naruto's considerable influence. He'd been pardoned back in Konoha. There was no reason he couldn't stay there, get a brand new arm, live a happy and fulfilling life without fear of repercussion from his past crimes. Everything had been given to him.

Which was why he couldn't stay there.

At least, not yet.

Because no matter what everyone else had decided, no matter that they looked upon him back in Konoha with gratitude for his role in ending the war, no matter that he already had everyone else's forgiveness…

He didn't yet have his own.

And until Sasuke could forgive himself – until he could learn to take what he'd done and come to terms with it, until he could look at himself as someone worthy of the trust, love, and loyalty of Team 7 and his other comrades, until he could truly forgive what he'd done…

…he would not set foot in Konoha.

He knew he didn't yet deserve to.

_There's something that's been bothering me lately._

He smirked ironically, making his way through the dense greenery that marked the edge of the Land of Fire. _Now if only I could figure out what the hell it is._

* * *

**note..** so uh hey there. if you follow me on tumblr you may have seen that what with sasusaku being canon and all (not that there was any doubt of course) i've been getting back into a writing mood. so i'm looking at this story as kind of a foot in the door back here again. i love sasuke and i love sakura and i'm so happy they're official.

anyway i like the idea of sasuke's quest for redemption, and i also had a couple ideas for sakura because we all know she's way too badass to just sit on her hands till sasuke comes back. so i wanted to get into what he's doing out on the road and why, and what she's gonna do back in konoha. plus the other characters i love like ino. and naruto of course.

if you liked it, let me know. if you didn't, keep it movin. i hope there's no more bullshit here so i can stick around awhile. i missed you guys :)

xoxo daisy :)


	2. Chapter 2

Kakashi eyed the proposal in front of him, the sixteenth of that afternoon, and couldn't suppress a yawn. This Hokage gig was more than a little frustrating. Naruto was in for a rude awakening; Kakashi highly doubted that his energetic, adventurous former student knew exactly how much paperwork was involved with being Hokage. If he did, Kakashi wondered if maybe Naruto wouldn't consider a new career choice.

He suspected that perhaps this was why Tsunade-sama had gone the route of early retirement. By no means was she no longer qualified to helm their busy little village. She'd been instrumental in the war in defeating Madara and Kaguya. She'd survived the battle with little damage. Kakashi had a niggling suspicion that she'd just grown supremely tired of all this damn _paperwork._

Hokage had never been his dream, but he knew where he was needed. Every form he filled out brought him just a bit closer to his own glorious retirement.

A knock at the door was a welcome distraction to reading the same scroll six times without retaining any of the tedious information contained within.

"Come in!" he called, laying it to the side, and he smiled warmly as Sakura stepped inside, carrying a scroll of her own. "Ah, Sakura. How are you this afternoon?"

"Great, Kakashi-sensei, and you?"

He doubted he'd ever be able to get Sakura, or Naruto for that matter, to stop calling him 'sensei.' Even his ascension to Hokage hadn't broken their habit.

"I've been better, actually," he said dryly, leaning back in his chair to stretch his stiff muscles. "Don't ever let them make you Hokage, Sakura. It'll ruin your eyesight."

She smirked, and laid down the scroll she'd been carrying on his desk. "Well I hope you've got energy for at least one more, because this is a proposal that I've been working on with Tsunade-shishou. I think it might actually be worth your while."

Kakashi, though beleaguered with work as he was, was impressed with what his (favorite) student brought to him. Her writing was cramped, minuscule, as though she couldn't stop herself from writing everything that came to her brilliant mind as it came to her. And what he was reading was – for the first time that day – legitimately enthralling.

"This is an excellent idea, Sakura," he said, looking up at her. Her eyes were bright with satisfaction; he tried to reconcile this confident, sparkling young woman with the erring, nervous little genin he'd inherited six years ago and found little similarity.

To say he was proud of her would have been an understatement.

Naruto and Sasuke, he'd known from the beginning, were meant for great things. To accomplish tremendous feats as shinobi. It was in their blood. He'd known it all along.

Sakura hadn't been meant for such greatness, but she'd gone out and snatched it anyway, through hard work and natural brilliance. She'd defied everyone's expectations, even (especially) his own, and stood before him with a diamond spine, confident and headstrong and so, so _necessary._ The war could not have been won without her.

"I'm glad you think so, Kakashi-sensei," she said earnestly. "I've already appropriated hospital funds to make the training possible. I can start next week after I open enrollment to interested shinobi and kunoichi. There'd have to be a screening, of course, something to measure chakra control to feel for any standouts, and…"

He grinned behind his mask, amused at her eagerness, and scrawled his untidy signature of approval on her proposal.

"You've already appropriated funds, eh?" he asked, feigning disapproval. "Running that hospital less than six months and already comfortable dipping into the piggy bank? You didn't know I'd approve this, Sakura. How unusually reckless of you."

She giggled and replied, "I SO knew you were gonna approve this, Kakashi-sensei. I just wanted to get a head start."

"All right, all right. You're lucky there's no one who could fill your shoes or you'd be out of a job, missy."

She absolutely glowed at the praise, ignoring the subtle teasing about her tendency to go maverick.

"You'll need to assemble a team to assist you," he said. "I doubt Tsunade-sama will be able to tear herself away from working on the prostheses for Naruto and Sasuke, and Shizune's got her hands full here, that's for sure." Keeping him in line was no mean feat, and they both knew it.

"I'll leave it up to you to decide who to recruit for your new mission. I'm taking you off active duty until you've got these medic-nin trained. This is priority one for you, Sakura: assigning a medic-nin to each shinobi squad is not only an outstanding proposal…it's necessary."

He could tell by the look on her face that she was already miles ahead of him, knew that she already had people in mind to assist her in this revolutionary task, knew that she'd found exactly the right niche for herself in the sleepy throes of peaceful times.

"I'll bring you a status report at the end of the week on how it's progressing," she promised with a quick bow. "Thank you so much, Kakashi-sensei, you won't regret this!"

She disappeared as quickly as she could through the door, leaving him alone to his mounting pile of paperwork – and thoroughly unable to shake the proud, fatherly smile from his face. His favorite student indeed.

* * *

"You'd better have a good reason for yanking me out of bed at this hour," Karin said dryly, looking supremely irritated at Sakura's summons.

"It's five o'clock in the afternoon, Karin," Sakura replied with a roll of her eyes. "If you're not up at five o'clock in the afternoon, that's your own fault. Reexamine your life's choices."

Karin privately felt that it was lucky that Sakura was so pretty, because she also happened to be a real pill.

They headed through the village together, at a pace entirely too brisk for Karin's liking. She was unashamed to admit that spending these last few months in peaceful, friendly Konoha had awakened within her a welcome new laziness. She was sometimes sent on missions and Sakura always found some inane new task for her here and there, but for the most part, she spent her days sleeping in, socializing with these freakish new friends of hers, and partaking of the best food Konoha had to offer.

She had no plans to settle down here in Konoha, but she had no immediate plans to leave it either.

But Sakura never seemed to relax, even during this most peaceful of times. She was forever holed up at the hospital, out captaining missions when she had some time off, or coming up with harebrained schemes to keep herself entertained. Karin suspected that perhaps the war had screwed with her head, and completely robbed her of her ability to relax and enjoy her life, a theory she introduced on a daily basis.

"Where are we going?" she groaned, fighting to keep up with her determined friend. "I'm starving, can we at least talk about your stupid idea over barbecue?"

"Yamanaka's," Sakura replied, ignoring Karin's request.

"The flower shop? Why?"

"What I'm gonna tell you is for you and Ino alone, and I'm not gonna repeat myself."

Karin rolled her eyes, but her curiosity was piqued. There weren't many people in the world she trusted – even fewer people that she liked – and she could count on one hand that number of people she trusted _and_ liked. Sakura, for all her befuddling motivation, was one of them. If she had something important to say, Karin would kick up a fuss and effect carelessness just to keep up appearances, but she would also hear her out, and help, if she could.

The smell of a hundred different flowers assaulted Karin's senses as they breezed inside the flower shop. It seemed that she was not alone in enjoying the languid peacefulness of Konoha post-war; Ino sat on a chair behind the front counter with her feet propped up, thumbing lazily through a magazine.

"Let me know if you need any help, welcome to Yamanaka's Flowers," she intoned without so much as looking up.

"Really excellent customer service, Pig," Sakura quipped.

"Seriously, is that how you greet people who come in here?" Karin scolded.

Ino abandoned her magazine in an instant, springing out of her chair to greet them properly.

"You have no idea how boring it is wasting your life away in a _flower shop_," she insisted. "You've come to rescue me from my prison, right?"

"Sort of," replied Sakura smugly.

"Can you cut the crap, Sakura?" Karin demanded, putting her hands on her hips to show she meant business. "Just tell us what you're so pleased with yourself about, so we can all be on our way."

"On our way to the barbecue place, I hope," Ino interjected.

"You're both impossible!" Sakura snapped. "All right, fine. I went to Kakashi-sensei today with a proposal that he agreed with. He told me to assemble a team of highly-qualified, discerning shinobi. I chose you two, and now I regret it, because this one," she jerked a thumb in Karin's direction, "sleeps till dark and this one," she jerked her thumb towards Ino, "spends her days growing old, wrinkled, and fat."

Karin would never understand the strange bond between Ino and Sakura, and she was much happier for it. They were both exceptional, vivacious, beautiful kunoichi who clearly loved each other dearly, trusted each other above all others, but the way they spoke to each other sometimes reminded her fiercely of the way she often spoke to Suigetsu.

"Just tell us!" she exploded.

"Yeah, what's up, Forehead?" Ino pressed.

"I introduced the idea of assigning a medic-nin to every ninja squad," Sakura revealed, to general surprise. "He thinks it's a great idea. I'm starting the screening process this weekend, and hopefully we can start training new medic-nin as early as next week."

Karin wasn't necessarily shocked that Haruno Sakura was responsible for a bright, shiny new idea that would improve the state of the shinobi world for generations to come. She _was_ shocked that of all the people in Konoha, Sakura had only chosen two, and one of them had been _her._

"Why me?" she blurted, as Ino gasped in excitement across from them. "I just started medical training at the hospital, there are a ton of other medic-nin further along than I am. Fully trained, even."

"I picked you because of your skill set," Sakura insisted.

Karin thought of her hated ability – the bite marks that littered her body – and frowned.

"What I do can't be taught," she said haughtily – and a little sadly, too. There was no accomplishment in her brand of healing. "Or did you forget?"

"Oh you mean the whole biting-you-and-getting-instantly-healed thing?" Ino asked.

"Yeah. My Heal Bite. That's not something you can teach some snot-nosed genin how to do. I don't even know how I do it."

"No, not your Heal Bite, that's not why I picked you," Sakura said impatiently. "I picked you because you can discern chakra flow within a shinobi. Part of this training is going to require that we weed out interested shinobi and kunoichi who lack the necessary chakra control to be trained as medic-nin. We all know that not everyone can do what we do."

She was referring to their above-average chakra control. Karin was still in medical training, but it was progressing quickly, because she had a good command of her own chakra. It didn't matter how strong a shinobi was on the battlefield; if they lacked precise chakra control, they couldn't handle becoming a medic-nin. Not even Sasuke-kun could do it, and he was the most powerful shinobi Karin had ever come across.

"Beyond that," Sakura said bluntly, "I trust your judgment."

This, more than anything, touched Karin's heart. Sakura might very well be a high-strung harpy with more senseless motivation than anyone else she'd ever met…

…but she was also the dearest friend she'd ever had. And hearing that the trust she had in Sakura was fully reciprocated, even after everything they'd been through, nearly made her cry.

Instead, she rolled her eyes.

"I mean it's not like I can refuse, since the Hokage assigned it," she said haughtily.

Sakura smiled and turned to Ino.

"You can examine their mentality," she elaborated. "See if there are any standouts, obviously, anyone predisposed to being a talented medic-nin. And also, see if there are any red flags. Loose cannons. I know a lot of us are still pretty…pretty banged up, from the war."

There was a moment of sad silence between them, as they all reflected on the war they'd won months before, and what it had cost. Karin saw Ino's eyes flicker quickly to the black-framed portrait of her father on the wall and back again.

"It's a crime that most shinobi squads lack a medically-trained teammate," Sakura continued, clearly trying to keep their minds off of sad things. "Tsunade-shishou had this same idea years ago, but lacked support. Think of all the casualties we can prevent by ensuring that a qualified healer is part of every team."

There was definite truth to her words, and all three of them knew it. The risk of exposing shinobi squads to danger without anyone there to heal any theoretical wounds was obscenely high, and unnecessary.

"What about existing shinobi squads?" Ino asked. "I see the benefit in training up new genin fresh out of the Academy, but what about squads that have been together for years without a medic-nin?"

"It'll obviously be easier to train up the kids," Sakura conceded. "We can screen them at the Academy level and enroll them immediately in the training so they're ready to go early on. As for existing shinobi squads, I have a plan for that I think we can really work with. But before we get into the nitty-gritty, are you guys in?"

Ino giggled. "Karin said it, it's not like we can refuse."

"I wouldn't ask you both to do this if I didn't think you were the best suited for the job," Sakura said baldly. "But if you don't want to do it, I'm not gonna force you."

As they headed to the barbecue shop ten minutes later, laughing and joking around like Karin had never done before moving to Konoha, she privately felt that Sakura could have asked her to help blow up Hokage Mountain and she would have done so. These girls, these dazzling, luminous girls, were the best and brightest of their generation, and the fact that they counted her among them?

Karin regretted nothing of her decision to stay here, in this freakish little city.

* * *

"Naruto,

Nearly at Suna. Gaara sending escorts. Weather sucks. How's Sakura?

-Sasuke"

Naruto smirked at the succinct note in his hand, delivered by Sasuke's preferred messenger hawk. So the bastard had indeed kept his promise to maintain contact during his travels – even if that contact was eleven words at a time.

He found it more than a little telling though that the only question he'd asked had been about Sakura. With that in mind, he penned his reply.

"Sasuke,

Took you that long to reach Suna? I guess only having one arm really slows you down. Too bad you didn't want to wait for Tsunade-baachan to finish your arm before you went off on this little stupid vacation of yours.

Tell Gaara I said hi. Do it, seriously, don't just ignore me. Tell him to come visit us! I know Temari'll wanna see Shikamaru anyway.

Everything's going great here, obviously. Kakashi-sensei's always in his office, I bet he thinks if he stays there long enough I'll give up trying to be Hokage and take his place. He's wrong.

Sakura's great. She just got the go-ahead to start training medic-nin. She wants one for every squad, it's an awesome idea! Imagine if every shinobi squad had a Sakura on it – Konoha could take over the world!

Just kidding. Shouldn't joke about things like that in peacetime!

Anyway yeah, I know she misses you but she's keeping busy. And she looks prettier and prettier every day – I bet when you come back for good, you'll take one look at her and pass out. Not that you asked how she looks – but I know you care. Why are you asking me that, though? I know you told her how to keep in contact with you. Don't tell me she hasn't written you yet! Maybe she'll wise up and move on from you.

Don't keep us waiting too long on this soul-searching thing, asshole. We didn't fight so hard to bring you home so you could just leave again.

\- Future Hokage Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

**note..** hi friends. this story essentially ignores chapter 700 and all of gaiden. I got the idea right after the manga ended and i'm just gonna roll with it instead of trying to incorporate gaiden facts in with it, because I think that everything after 699 is garbage. so just pretend that you don't know anything after sasuke leaves the village again when reading this story lolz.

thanks to everyone who's still sticking around, I really appreciate it.

xoxo daisy


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto hadn't received a reply from Sasuke yet, but that was to be expected; not only did the hawk he sent have to make the three-days journey to Suna, but Sasuke was never the type to rush to answer a message.

Despite the fact that it had only been a week since he'd sent his letter, he was impatient for a reply. He didn't entirely understand Sasuke's motivation for leaving the village again, and he wished he would hurry up with this existential crisis and come home. There were fewer and fewer missions to go on these days, and more and more tedious meetings with Tsunade-baachan and a few of the village elders educating him on how to be Hokage.

Read: how to fill out mountains and mountains of paperwork. And Naruto wasn't interested in that at all, so he spent as much time as he could visiting Kakashi-sensei in the Hokage's office. Ironic that the two best suited for the position were the two least-interested in the responsibilities that accompanied the office.

"He's dragging his feet," Naruto complained that afternoon. "What's he doing that's so important he can't respond to my letter?"

"Try and see things from his perspective," Kakashi suggested, for the hundredth time, not looking up from his erotic novel. "He's lived his life blinded by hatred. Everything he thought he knew was ripped out from under him. Despite being redeemed in the eyes of the village, Sasuke has not yet forgiven himself…and the same holds true for others outside of Konoha."

"He helped save the world," Naruto pointed out angrily. "Yeah, he was wrong before that, but he came through in the end, didn't he? If it wasn't for him, Madara would have won."

"There are people who have a harder time grasping the concept of forgiveness than you do, Naruto. And Sasuke – regardless of how much he helped in the end – made a lot of mistakes. Some not so easily forgotten."

Naruto sighed. "It's just I thought by now he'd be back in the group, you know? One of us again. I didn't think we'd still be waiting around for him to get his shit together."

Kakashi chuckled. "I know how you feel. But at least now we're comforted by the knowledge that he's on the right track this time."

A few moments' quiet passed between them, before Naruto remembered the interesting detail he'd come to discuss in the first place.

"You know he told Sakura-chan how to contact him, right?" He couldn't control the smirk that unfolded across his face. "Well apparently, she hasn't written him back yet."

Kakashi looked up from his book at last, visibly intrigued.

"It's been weeks since he left," he murmured. "He's been writing to her?"

"Yep. More than once, actually. She just hasn't replied. I think that's why his letter to me was so short and bitchy. You know how he gets when Sakura-chan's involved."

"Well, she HAS been very busy with her new mission. She and Karin and Ino have been working diligently with the new medic-nin training program…"

"Please!" Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sakura-chan, too busy to write a letter back to _Sasuke?_"

He was pleased that Kakashi seemed as interested in the subject as he was. Sasuke and Sakura were rumored to be romantically-involved, or at least well on the way towards it. Neither of them admitted it when questioned separately, but Naruto found Sasuke's response damning to say the least: "It's none of your business, asshole."

A dismissal, sure, but not a denial.

Sasuke leaving again was annoying, but he didn't think the separation would bother Sakura to the point where she would ignore his communications. Sasuke never spoke to anybody he didn't want to speak to, and Sakura never ignored anybody who wanted to speak to her. Naruto didn't buy the fact that she was too busy to pen a quick note to Sasuke assuring him that she was all right, inquiring about his journey, acknowledging his existence.

Which meant there was trouble in paradise.

"She must be upset with him," Kakashi reasoned. "Perhaps his leaving again affected her more than we thought…"

"Well it's obnoxious," Naruto snapped. "We went to all that trouble to give them an opportunity to realize they love each other, and now that they've got the chance to be together, he leaves and she's pissed at him? I'm sick of this shit."

"You're right as rain, Naruto," Kakashi agreed, sounding equally fed up with the roller coaster quasi-love story between two of his favorite students. He stood up abruptly from his chair, slamming his hands on his desk. "This is your new mission. Priority one. Talk to Sakura and find out what's causing the hold-up. Report back to me immediately."

* * *

Naruto had never been so happy to follow an order. Sakura-chan was so busy lately that he hadn't bothered to try and hang out with her in weeks; she was nice to him when their paths crossed, but dismissive, and her thoughts were always elsewhere whenever he tried to talk to her. He missed her, and sometimes it felt like she was off on some existential journey as well, even two feet in front of his face.

Normally he wouldn't dare set foot in the hospital for fear of being examined by overzealous medic-nin or kicked out by Sakura-chan for interfering, but bolstered by the authority granted him by the Hokage, he strutted inside the front door like he owned the place. A quick inquiry of the besotted nurse in the nursing station told him Sakura was in her office with Ino and Karin.

All three looked up in surprise when he threw open the door. Sakura, he was pleased to see, looked happy to see him nonetheless.

"Ah, Naruto," she said, standing from the worktable she and the other girls were hunched over. "What are you doing here?"

"Urgent message from the Hokage," he replied immediately. "Hey, girls."

The others greeted him as well, businesslike as they rose from their work station as well to hear the important message.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

Naruto considered how best to approach this. He'd piqued everyone's curiosity by his abrupt arrival. Should he ask to speak to Sakura in private? See if she would feel more comfortable opening up to him if they were away from prying eyes?

Quickly he dismissed that avenue. He wanted the truth, and he doubted he'd be able to extract it from her on his own. Her two best friends, each of them nosy and demanding in their own right, would be able to assist, and he knew they would.

So he decided to come right out with it.

"By order of the Hokage," he said in thunderous tones, "you are to tell me why you haven't replied to Sasuke's messages yet."

There was a ringing silence. Ino's jaw dropped, Karin's eyebrows vanished above her hairline, and Sakura sputtered out, "I…you…_what?_"

"You heard me, Sakura-chan," Naruto said firmly, planting himself in front of the door with his arms folded to block her escape. "I know you haven't been talking to Sasuke."

"You haven't?" Ino gasped.

"What the hell, man?" Karin snapped.

"How do you know?" Sakura asked quietly.

"His letter to me." Naruto yanked it out of his jacket pocket and slapped it into Sakura's hand. "You think he'd be asking me how you are if you were telling him yourself? In case you've never met him, he'd rather stick a Chidori up his own ass than let anyone know how lame he is at talking to you."

"What do you mean, you're not talking to him?" Ino looked angry. "All that time you two spent together when he came home after the war…I know something happened, Forehead, how dare you not tell me?"

"And how dare you ignore him!" Karin hissed. "The lengths you went to to make sure he came home! What's wrong with you?"

Sakura didn't look away from Naruto, and he could read her unease as simply as if she'd shouted it at him. She planted her hands on her hips and sighed in exasperation.

"Kakashi-sensei put you up to this, huh."

"Yep. And he's the Hokage so you have to listen to him. What's the deal, Sakura-chan?"

"Look, it's nothing as scandalous as you're making it out to be. I'm not mad at him. I'm not upset with him. I just…"

She trailed off, glancing out the window, as if she half-expected Sasuke to come sweeping inside her office.

"…I don't really know what to say to him right now," she finished, and he could tell that her response, unsatisfying as it was, was honest.

"I'll write him back," she promised. "When I know what I want to say. But in the meantime, I'm really busy right now so can you just tell Kakashi-sensei to mind his own business?"

* * *

Sakura deeply resented everyone else's interference. Didn't she have enough on her plate right now without being forced to publicize her situation with Sasuke? Hadn't she earned the right to a little privacy concerning this rather precarious development?

She sat down on the edge of her bed, and decided to indulge her masochism for a moment. She reached under her pillow and took out his most recent letter. Without meaning to, she'd memorized his words the moment she'd read them, but she liked to look at the paper nonetheless, liked to see how he shaped the letters. Evidence that he was real, and existed, even if he was far away by now.

"Sakura,

I'm in Suna now. It's hot. Gaara says hi. How are you? Stay out of trouble.

-Sasuke"

She'd read it a thousand times through, and the fact that she was clearly on his mind was never far from her thoughts.

But she really, genuinely didn't know what to say to him.

Her thoughts wandered back to a night barely a month ago, before he'd left Konoha, a night she'd told absolutely no one about.

* * *

_The knock at her door was soft, but insistent. So many of her friends swung by her apartment at all hours of the day and night – a commonplace occurrence for any shinobi, since their schedules were so unpredictable – so she wasn't necessarily surprised, until she opened the door to her midnight visitor._

"_Sasuke-kun?" Sakura took one look at his face, his tired eyes and worried expression, and demanded, "What's wrong? Are you all right?"_

"_I know it's late," he said softly._

"_That's okay, I was just reading." She lifted up the heavy medical text she'd been poring over in explanation. "Are you okay?"_

"'_M fine," he said stiffly. Then, "Can I come in?"_

"_Sure."_

_She held the door open wider in invitation and he stepped inside, crossing the threshold for the umpteenth time. They'd been spending a lot of time together since the war; Sasuke was a surprisingly good conversationalist when the subject interested him, and as luck would have it, he seemed to find medicine – Sakura's forte – fascinating. But she could tell from the look on his handsome face that this wasn't a social call. Something was wrong._

_He remained standing, looking supremely uncomfortable, given that they'd spent hours in her apartment drinking green tea and discussing the finer points of battlefield surgery. And suddenly, it struck Sakura why he must be there, in the dead of night, clearly wracked with anxiety:_

_She wished she hadn't opened the door._

"_Er, actually, Sasuke-kun, now's not really a good time. I just remembered, I have…"_

"_Just listen," he interrupted, dismissing whatever pathetic excuse she'd been about to invent. "You know why I'm here."_

"_If it's about you leaving for awhile, it's fine. I'm not mad or anything, I know Kakashi-sensei's giving you permission so…"_

"_If you know I'm leaving," he cut her off again, "then you know why I'm here."_

_Wincing, she glanced out the window instead, unable to face him. She'd been hoping to avoid this exact conversation, counting on Sasuke's natural aversion to in-depth emotional ruminations to exempt her from having to have it in the first place. But Sasuke was changing, and in many ways, for the better; it seemed like she was the one who'd forgotten how to discuss her feelings._

_He sat down on the sofa, the same place he'd occupied so many evenings over the past few weeks, the same place she'd stitched him up, healed him, provided physical therapy in the critical days following the war. The same place he'd sat while they argued over chakra levels and the pros and cons of having a field medic on every ninja squad. He didn't pat the spot next to him and she didn't sit beside him._

_Abruptly, she was filled with anger._

"_I knew you wouldn't stay," she said finally. "At least not at first."_

_Sasuke studied her with that quiet intensity, his dark eyes like flint in the dim lighting of her living room. Then, "You're upset with me."_

"_I'm not upset you're leaving again. I knew you'd have to, eventually. I know you pretty well by now, Sasuke-kun."_

"_Me leaving isn't why you're upset. At least not all the way." He blinked. "You're upset that I'm here right now."_

_Hating how exposed she was in front of him, when all she wanted to do was hold herself together, she didn't respond._

_She'd known for a long time that Sasuke wasn't ready to come home, at least not permanently. There was much he had to understand, much he had to come to terms with; she had no doubts that his heart lay in Konoha, and eventually he would make his home here. She'd known that, had long accepted it; she would miss him on his journey and wish him well._

_But she knew what Sasuke wanted from her. She knew what he was here tonight to demand, and she'd been avoiding this conversation since the moment she'd realized he was leaving._

"_You're upset," he said quietly, "with what you know I'm going to ask from you."_

"_I think," she whispered, "you should leave. Before either one of us says something we're going to regret."_

_But Sasuke didn't leave. She knew he wouldn't. For all the ways he'd shown he was evolving since the war had ended, his stubbornness had shown absolutely no signs of improvement._

_Unfortunately for him, hers hadn't, either._

"_You don't want me to leave."_

"_I want you to stop putting words in my mouth. And I DO want you to leave, because I'm tired and I'm not in the mood for this."_

"_You know things are changing between us," he said aggressively, and when she let out a snarl of anger, he didn't flinch. "You knew – even before – that I…"_

"_That you wanted me to wait for you?"_

_Sakura's voice was shrill with anger. She hated him all of a sudden, hated the way he sat on her sofa, hated his presumption, hated his damnable pinpoint accuracy in exposing her emotions._

"_It's bad enough that you're leaving again," she hissed, "so soon after coming home, so soon after repairing what was broken with all of us. But I've come to terms with that. I knew it was still too early…I know you've got a lot on your mind and you won't be able to get through all of it here. That's not you, that's not your way. It's not my favorite thing about you, but I'm already fine with that. As your friend, I support that. As your friend, I support you, and I'll be waiting to be here for you, as your friend."_

_Her eyes flashed dangerously, her hands clenched into tight little fists._

"_But don't you sit in front of me, Uchiha Sasuke, right before you walk out again, and tell me you want to change the way things are right now."_

_Sasuke was silent for a few moments, regarding her, and she wondered what she must look like to him; the sweet, accommodating girl who'd ushered him inside so quickly was gone, replaced with the fierce kunoichi she was deep down. She wondered if he was intimidated, annoyed…_

"_It's unfair," he said after awhile, his words slow and chosen carefully. "I have no right to ask you to put that part of your life on hold while I get my shit together. It's unfair to ask for more from you than you've given me already."_

_Sakura was nearly about to relax – nearly about to smile and ask him to have tea, because now he understood – and then he was on his feet, and his eyes were blazing, too, and he snapped, "But I'm going to do it anyway."_

_She was alarmed at his abrupt change in demeanor, but not frightened. He was in front of her so fast she wondered stupidly if he'd used a teleporation jutsu, and then he broke down the final barrier between them, the one they'd carefully erected since the war._

"_You won't talk to me," he snapped. "About anything that happened between us. And I've given you your space on it up till now. Tried doing the right thing by you but I don't even know what that is anymore, because you won't tell me."_

"_Why should I spell it out for you?" she hissed. "You're supposed to be my friend."_

_At her final word, Sasuke exhaled sharply through his nose, and Sakura was bemused to see the corner of his mouth curl up in a smirk. Furious at the notion that he might be laughing at her, she took a deep breath, preparing to give him the cussing out of a lifetime, but he interrupted her again with something she never thought she'd hear him say._

"_Friend?" His smirk widened, self-deprecating and self-satisfied all at once, and as his fingers sifted gently through her hair, he revealed his boiling, insurmountable truth:_

"_You and I have never, ever been just friends, Sakura."_

* * *

Sakura was not necessarily proud of what happened after that. Nor was she ashamed of it. Sleeping with Sasuke on the eve of his departure seemed appropriate; she leaned back now against the pillows that, a few weeks ago, had borne the weight of Uchiha Sasuke as she moved on top of him, beneath him. It was certainly not how she'd expected to reach that particular milestone in life, but at the same time, there was no regret. For her, it had always been Sasuke.

Sasuke's leaving again, though, had consequences. Sakura's least favorite lesson in life had been the permanence, the brutal justice, of consequences: an equal and opposite reaction to each action, however seemingly innocuous.

Leaving was the right thing for him to do, surely. She'd known that all along.

But now, he asked the impossible. Before he'd left, he'd changed things between them. Or rather, he'd spoken the magic words, the ones that brought the subtle changes between them to the surface. He was right, she realized, with a breathy exhale as she remembered the weight of his gaze on her that night. He was right, like he always was: they'd never been just friends, even when they were children. There had always been something more between them.

Acknowledging that connection between them had breathed life into what had once been mere potential. They were more than friends forever, and now, they were something else, something even greater than that.

And still, he'd gone away.

Sakura stared at the notebook in her lap, and didn't even bother to pick up her pen. She could think of absolutely nothing to say to Sasuke, nothing he didn't already know, anyway. Nothing that would bring him comfort on his journey to nowhere, nothing that would unburden her heavy heart by revealing it.

There was only numbness now. Because they were barely beginning, and entirely unfinished, and Sasuke had had the nerve to ask her to wait for him.

And she hadn't said yes…

…but she hadn't said no, either.


	4. Chapter 4

_There's something that's been bothering me lately._

The stifling Suna heat was something Sasuke could never really acclimate to, regardless of how often he'd been there on his many travels. He always felt he could prepare himself for it, but every new visit was a fresh, unhappy reminder. He had no idea how anyone could make Suna their permanent home; he'd awoken drenched in sweat, resenting the sticky air and as miserable as he could remember being in a long time.

It wasn't to say Gaara hadn't given him the benefit of the nicest accommodations a guest could expect. The room he'd been issued for the duration of his stay was bright, with many large windows that offered him the nicest view in the city, of the gleaming earth-colored buildings and the seemingly endless expanse of hot golden sand surrounding the city walls. The bed was comfortable, the largest he could remember sleeping in, and there was a well-stocked refrigerator filled with cool, refreshing drinks opposite a handsome mahogany writing desk and leather chair.

He supposed he should feel appreciative, but the muggy humidity pervaded every square inch of Suna. Even the most comfortable of hotel rooms.

Sasuke sat up, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm, and exhaled. His tired eyes adjusted quickly to the sunlight streaming in through the massive windows, and he scoured the horizon automatically, searching for a messenger raven.

_What do you expect from her,_ he thought glumly. Sakura's answer was her silence.

* * *

When he realized she was asleep, he let his gaze wander.

Sakura had always been a pretty girl, something he'd noticed (and forced himself to ignore) even back when they were genin, and a romantic relationship had been the furthest thing from his radar. It was simply a fact about her. She was smart, she was kind, she was strong, and she was beautiful. A clinical, detached assessment.

Time passed, and her childish prettiness evolved. The first time he'd seen her after his defection, staring up at him in shock from the ruins of one of Orochimaru's hideouts, he'd noticed the changes time had wrought in her. She was taller, her face thinner, feminine and girlish like she'd always been but she carried herself differently, somehow. Confidence radiated off of her in waves.

Now, though, as she lay in the crook of his arm, fast asleep and ignorant to his wakefulness, he feasted on her features and wondered how he might ever have thought her merely 'pretty.'

She was gorgeous.

_How am I supposed to leave now?_ he wondered with a sigh, as he smoothed a stray lock of hair off her forehead.

Her reaction to his presence that night had been unexpected, at least at first. He realized now, basking in the afterglow of his first sexual encounter, that he'd been unfair in even showing up on her doorstep tonight, to say nothing of initiating everything that happened after they'd fought.

She was right, like always. He had no business stirring up a romance with her when he was just on the cusp of leaving. Dangling everything she'd wanted – everything he'd wanted, in secret – before her only to snatch it away again. For all the blissful contentment that coursed through his body in the aftermath of sex, he suddenly felt sickened with himself.

_If she hates me forever,_ he thought, _it'd be no more than I deserve._

The next morning, he made his goodbyes. Sakura made a last-ditch, largely-ornamental appeal to him to wait just a little longer. The prosthetic arm Tsunade had been working on for him was nearly finished; surely his journey could wait until it was done?

But what she didn't know – what she _couldn't_ know – was that everything that had happened the night before had wrought in Sasuke a deep, relentless guilt. Suddenly, just looking at her, just meeting her bright, beautiful eyes, made him feel as unworthy of her, as unworthy of her loyalty, as he'd felt after his penultimate battle with Naruto. How could he leave her? And even worse than that, how could he ever deserve to stay at her side?

He couldn't wait for the arm. Hell, he couldn't wait at all. It was all he could do to lift his fingers to her forehead, tips just brushing against the beautiful diamond seal, and smile at her. His insides felt like lead, his stomach a heavy stone, and he offered her all he had to give: A promise to return.

Since his departure, he wasn't sure how the separation affected her. Sakura had always been puzzlingly tolerant of his idiosyncrasies. Regardless of how frequently or severely he disappointed her, she treated him as she always had: with a kindness and affection so genuine it took him off his feet.

He wasn't proud of it, but he expected more of the same in the weeks since he'd gone. A faithful, quick reply to his many messages to her, at the very least.

_Not a word,_ he thought, sighing and leaning back against his sweat-soaked pillow. _And what else did you expect?_

There came a quick knock at his door, and he frowned. It was still a little early for company, but when the voice on the other side called, "It's Temari! Gaara-sama wants to see you!", he figured it would be rude not to answer. Shrugging on a fresh cotton shirt, he opened the door only to find she'd already disappeared.

* * *

Gaara wasn't in his office. A quick query to the concierge at the front desk informed Sasuke that the Kazekage could be found in the aviary; the concierge pointed in its general direction and offered, "Tallest building downtown, can't miss it. Thousands of birds."

Sasuke muttered a quick thank you and took to the rooftops; it was simply too blisteringly hot to manage a leisurely stroll through the town. The concierge was right, though; it was immediately apparent which building was the aviary. In a flash, he appeared on its roof, sliding in through one of the massive windows.

"That was fast," called a deep, familiar voice from below. Sasuke glanced down from his perch on one of the many bird ledges and saw Gaara leaning casually against the door, a raven on his arm as he read through a letter.

"Your hotel staff give good directions," Sasuke offered, jumping down to join him on the ground.

Gaara smiled. Even knowing how much he'd changed since their very first meeting, Sasuke found the sight a little jarring. Who could possibly reconcile the calm, peaceful village leader standing beside him with the murderous psychopath he'd been as a child?

"The heat bothers you," Gaara observed. "Odd, considering the climate in Konoha is on the warm side."

"This," Sasuke replied, gesturing around him, "is a little different."

"It takes some getting used to. Still, the rains are quite pleasant. Thank you for meeting me here; it's difficult finding privacy in the Kazekage Tower, and I had a few messages to send. I gathered you might have some as well."

The purpose of the aviary became suddenly, embarrassingly clear: the thousands of birds that flew in and out of here all day were messenger birds. Carrier pigeons, owls, even ravens like the one he used.

"Waiting on replies, actually," Sasuke murmured, thinking of Sakura.

Gaara smiled again before handing him a scroll. "From Konoha," he explained.

Sasuke's stomach flipped – maybe Sakura had finally responded – but the handwriting on the outside was the same barely-legible scrawl he'd grown accustomed to in the passing weeks. Another letter from Naruto. He wasn't necessarily proud of it, but he was –

"Disappointed?" Gaara offered, and Sasuke saw that he was under heavy scrutiny. "I'd think a letter from your best friend might warrant more than merely a grimace."

Sasuke didn't say anything as he opened the letter and quickly read it. It wasn't the long, rambling letters he'd been receiving from his friend lately. In fact, for Naruto, it was pretty abrupt.

"Yo Sasuke,

So do you plan on telling me what's going on with Sakura-chan? Because she won't say a word. You better not screw this up!

-Future Hokage Uzumaki Naruto"

This in no way helped his bad mood. If anything, it was confirmation as much as Sakura's silence: she really was angry with him.

Gaara was quiet next to Sasuke, studying his new friend's expression carefully. Sasuke was no longer the raging storm of hate and resentment he'd once been, which was a miracle, but he didn't look happy right now, either. The tightening around his mismatched eyes matched the tightening in his jaw. Whatever was bothering him, Gaara knew he didn't want to talk about.

"Bad news?" he inquired lightly, as though he hadn't read Naruto's brief, badgering note over Sasuke's shoulder.

"Hard to say," Sasuke replied stiffly, rolling up the scroll again and sliding it into his jacket pocket.

Gaara paused, wondering if maybe bringing up the taboo topic might push Sasuke over the edge – then decided he didn't care either way.

"And have you heard from Sakura-san?"

Bingo. Sasuke's tight expression broke. He looked distracted, angry…and worried. Gaara had never seen such conflict in another man's eyes, and all he'd done was mention Sakura's name.

"Not yet," he answered. His tone was not friendly.

"Perhaps she's busy."

"Right."

"Or perhaps she just doesn't wanna hear from you!" a brash female voice interjected. Sasuke didn't need to look up to know that Temari had joined them. "Ugh, there's bird shit everywhere, Gaara-sama you know you have a meeting room for these exact purposes, right?"

"No need for rudeness, Temari," Gaara chastised lightly, but he was interested to see what kind of reaction his sister's bluntness might stir in Sasuke, who was always so difficult to read.

Sasuke spared Temari a sour glare and muttered, "Temari."

The fierce Suna kunoichi stood her ground, looking cross and irritable; to Sasuke's memory, however, this was merely her default expression. She blatantly ignored Gaara's halfhearted scolding and continued, "Why the hell would you expect Sakura to write back to you? After you up and leave her again?"

Sasuke didn't flinch, but his sullen expression turned suddenly hostile.

"Is that why I'm here?" he demanded. "Or did you actually have a reason for summoning me, Gaara, besides wanting to sic your sister on me?"

Gaara held up a hand in front of Temari, who showed every sign of wanting to tear Sasuke's good arm off, and said, "We can continue our discussion later. Breakfast, Temari. Sasuke, you're welcome to join us."

"No thanks," Sasuke returned coldly. He didn't make for the door, or the windows; neither escape was fast enough as he vanished in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

Sasuke hadn't felt this irritable in a long time. He wasn't sure why he'd even come to Suna, only that it felt far enough away from Konoha. Repairing bonds with the Sand Siblings had seemed a good idea at the time.

He found himself back at the hotel, thoroughly pissed off as he stormed down the long hallway to the outdoor pool. He was mad at everyone: Naruto and his presumptuous letters, Gaara and his infuriating interference, Temari and her ignorant scolding…Sakura, for her stony silence and himself, for being mad at her at all. What a terrible morning. Blinding sun, unbearable, stifling heat…

"Yo, Sasuke."

A stocky, well-built guy around his age sat in the shallow end of the hotel pool; he had dark hair and seemed perfectly at ease addressing Sasuke, who was convinced he'd never seen this person before in his life.

"Do I know you?" he snapped rudely.

The boy raised an eyebrow, then grinned. "I get it. You don't recognize me without the face paint."

Sasuke blinked. "Kankurou."

"You're not the first!" Kankurou snickered. "C'mon, get in. Water's cold, for once."

Sasuke wasn't in the mood for a discussion with a third Sand Sibling, but the beckon of cool, refreshing water was too tempting to ignore. He shrugged off his jacket and yanked his shirt over his head before kicking off his trousers.

He felt a little twinge of unease when Kankurou's gaze came to rest on the bandaged stump where his arm had once been, but Kankurou looked away and didn't bring it up.

"This is the only pool in the city that actually gets cool," Kankurou explained, shutting his eyes and letting his head sink back against the steps he leaned on. "The hotel owners pay extra for some special self-cooling water. No idea how they do it, but I'd keep it to myself if I did. Supply and demand."

Sasuke didn't answer. The water felt amazing, and Kankurou's rambling didn't leave much room for comment.

"Naruto had no idea who I was, first time he saw me without the war paint."

_Not surprising,_ thought Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan did, though."

Sasuke's eyes snapped open. This was deliberate, he was sure. Every single one of the Sabakus had brought up Sakura's name, and sure enough, he saw Kankurou staring at him, as if trying to gauge his reaction.

"I got poisoned a few years ago," Kankurou went on, seemingly oblivious to the anger he was stirring in Sasuke. "Real messy situation. If Sakura-chan hadn't come from Konoha, no way I would've survived. None of the medics here were half as qualified as she was, and she was just a kid back then. Don't even think she was sixteen."

"Really."

Kankurou grinned as he splashed some water through his hair to keep his ears cool. "Look, dude, I know you're trying not to sound interested because that's just your way or whatever. But we get it. You miss your girlfriend."

"She's not my-"

"ANYWAY I got poisoned and no one in Suna could figure out how to cure me. They sent for help from Konoha, and the Hokage sent Sakura-chan. Now, NONE of our medics had the first clue what to do but Sakura-chan? Took her about five seconds to diagnose me and ten more seconds to devise an antidote for it. She sucked out all the poison and I was fine in a few days. Any later, I'd've been a goner."

Sasuke could picture it, as much as he tried not to. A fifteen-year-old Sakura, with her spiky hair and glittering eyes, identifying her opponent as a mysterious poison and kicking the shit out of it. Even back then, when she'd still been apprenticing, she'd been…

"She was amazing," Kankurou finished. "Stole a few hearts that day, including mine." Sasuke held back his fierce glare with some difficulty, because Kankurou was grinning. "Don't worry, dude, everyone knew from the beginning she was off limits. But I get it, you know? You miss her. You miss _that._ How could you not?"

It fell silent between them. Sasuke let his gaze wander, taking in the flush cacti that lined the pool, the barren palm trees that provided a semblance of shade. This was easily the nicest place in Suna. In fact, with the trees absorbing some of the humidity and the self-cooling water keeping a pleasant 60 degrees all around him, it felt almost like Konoha.

Almost like home.

The notion filled him with despair, as much as it comforted him.

"So I guess the real question is," Kankurou continued, "what are you doing in Suna?"

_That,_ thought Sasuke, as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes again, _is a very good question._

* * *

Sasuke had just dozed off when there was a knock at his door. "It's Temari! Open up!"

Whatever decent mood he'd been in after visiting the pool and hearing Kankurou's story about Sakura abruptly vanished. Sasuke stood out of bed and yanked open the door, nearly activating his Sharingan.

"_What._"

Temari just rolled her eyes and held out a scroll for him. "This came for you, from Konoha," she snapped. "When I saw who wrote it, my first thought was that I should rip it into shreds so your undeserving eyes never got to read it. But lucky for you…"

She smiled. "…I like Sakura-san too much to ruin her day."

Sasuke's eyes widened imperceptibly before he snatched the scroll from her.

"Enjoy," she sang sarcastically, but he'd already shut the door in her face and sat down at the desk.

'Dear Sasuke-kun,

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. Things have been busy here. I'm working on a special project with Ino and Karin.

But that's no excuse. I guess I didn't really know what to say. I guess I still don't really know what to say.

I hope you're doing well. I'm sure you're fine in Suna but it gets so awfully hot there. There's a pool at one of the hotels – I forget the name but it's the one Gaara-sama puts us up in whenever we visit – but the pool's phenomenal. It continually self-cools. You'd think they could afford to invest some of that technology into air-conditioning.

Whatever's keeping you out there, Sasuke-kun, I hope you figure it out. Naruto misses you. Everyone misses you.

I miss you, too, but you already knew that.

See you,

Sakura"

* * *

**note..** have a good day :)


End file.
